This blog and the public radio show it promoted are no more now that I've moved to Sacramento, CA. Here's the original description: Hawaii Public Radio's Energy Futures program airs weekly on Mondays at 5 pm HST. Topics include renewable energy development, reducing Hawaii's dependence on imported fuels and others that will help residents understand the options before them as they and their fellow citizens chart a new energy future for Hawaii.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Will Next Generation Pursue Copenhagen’s Goals?

Hawaii has as much as any society hanging on the outcome of the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, which convenes two weeks from tomorrow. Sea level rise assessments for this century range from 25 centimeters to a meter, and those are so-called “conservative” estimates.

Someone recently said sea level rise wouldn’t be a problem for Hawaii, since the state’s mean elevation is 3,035 feet. “We all can move to the Big Island,” he said – in jest. Obviously, anything approaching or exceeding a meter of rise will have profound effects on the islands’ population, most of whom either live or work in neighborhoods where even periodic high water incursion would be life-changing.

No matter what happens in Copenhagen, the current generation of grade school and junior high school students and those not yet born will have to live with the results. They’ll be the ones to carry the fight against climate change throughout this century.

They will, won’t they?

One would think so. The generation that’s convening in Copenhagen certainly expects that fight to continue long after they’re no longer on the scene. Energy Futures tomorrow will focus on what’s being done locally to prepare the younger generation for the effort their elders want them – actually, expect them – to pursue.

Our guests will be Carol Feinga from the Kokua Hawaii Foundation and James Koshiba of Kanu Hawaii. Both organizations have programs in place to instill a sense of ownership among young people for the century-long environmental issues they’ll face.

Energy Futures airs “live” 5-6 pm HST Mondays on KIPO-FM (89.3 in Hawaii) and is streamed at that time at Hawaii Public Radio’s website. Listeners can call in with their questions and comments at 941-3689 on Oahu and 1-877-941-3689 from the neighbor islands and beyond.

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About Me

After five years of active-duty service as an Army officer with duty stations in West Berlin and South Vietnam, reported and edited for newspapers and broadcast stations (including all-news radio) in Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles and Honolulu. Covered Honolulu city government for the Honolulu Advertiser and KGMB-TV. Served on Congressman Cec Heftel's staff in Honolulu and Washington, then managed corporate communications and was Hawaiian Electric Company's spokesman for nearly a decade. A communications consultant for 19 years before moving to California in 2012. Launched, produced and hosted Hawaii Public Radio's "live" weekly "Energy Futures" public affairs program in 2009-10. Authored books on The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific ("Punchbowl" 1982) and on the decline of standard grammar in business and society ("Me and Him Are Killing English!" 2007). Now an information officer with the California Department of Water Resources.